You Should Be Afraid Of the Dark
by gamtav1375
Summary: Demonstuck AU! Prospit dreamers are the hunters, Derse are the demons. John is the leader of a group of hunters, when his only family is abducted by the demons, what will he do? Are forbidden romances in the future? (pairings include; Johnkat, slight Davejade, Dirkjake, Roxy/Jane, Rose3Jade, Gamtav, and a few minor others that are implied)
1. Chapter 1

Be the Hunters:

You can't be all of the hunters dumbass. Try again.

Be the hunter John Egbert:

That's better.

== Your name is John Egbert and your life is pretty fucking weird. Of course, that's how it's been since you could remember, so to you your life is normal. Today is May 8th 2020 and you have just recieved news that your sister is dead.

Well, you don't know that she is actually dead, but you'd rather she were than the other option; the demons. Your teeth clench just at the thought of them and you struggle to relax your jaw as you load up your weapons, checking the ammo in your guns, cleaning your blades, etc. You slip the last dagger into a slot in your dark jean jacket and look at your appearance in the mirror.

Your hair, once messy and long, is cut shorter, but still a few persistant pieces peak out. Piercing blue eyes stare back at your now chiseled face and rest on a long scar that goes in a jagged line from the edge of your left eye to the edge of your collar bone. Instinctively, your pale fingers reach out to touch it, but then you clench your hand into a fist as the door opens and shuts; announcing the prescence of another.

"John!" you turn to see Jane stumbling into the room, "I-It's about Jade! The demons...they have her!"

You freeze, muscles insantly locked, and tense. Your sweet sister (well sweet around people, kicks ass around demons) was in the clutches of the beings you hated most. Swallowing thickly, you turn to look at your relative, whose sky blue eyes are wide, and her tanned skin is covered with sweat.

"Who else knows?" you ask.

She pants slightly as she responds, "Jake and Karkat."

You nod and head towards the door of the warehouse you and your team have been using as a base, "Keep an eye on the place."

"Keep clear, John," Jane says, using the expression that was code for 'be safe'.

Well. Not really code. You all just thought it sounded cool.

"You too Jane, round everyone up will you?" you say as you pause in the doorway, "Oh. And may the black blood paint the skies."

She smiles knowingly, but her eyes betray her feelings, and you know she is concerned for your well being. You shrug it off and exit into the night, keeping a pistol held tightly in your hand just to be safe. Your intentions tonight are as black as the demon's blood, of which you are determined to spill.

== Be Jade Harley

Your name is Jade Harley and you are scared shitless. Sweat matts your long, curly black hair to your forehead, and your jade green eyes strain against the darkness around you. Your hands are tied behind your back against the back of a chair and your legs are in the same position with the legs of the chair. For what you know right now you are alone, but you aren't entirely sure.

Suddenly, a door creaks open about three feet in front of you, and you swallow dryly as someone...no _something_ enters, "Sup Harley, long time no see."

Somehow you find the courage to spit back a response, "Yes, the last time we saw each other I just about killed your sister."

"_Almost_, dear Jade," the silky voice corrects, sending shivers down your spine, "Rose is now in much better condition. Your lucky that I'm the one that found you though or you'd be in a much worse position."

You surpress a shudder and glare at where you guess it is standing, "Go to hell Strider."

"I've already been there sweetheart," suddenly, you are staring into shocking red eyes, and you can't help the startled gasp that escapes you.

He gently cups the side of your cheek and strokes it lovingly with his thumb, "Dammit get away from me," you hiss.

"And what are you going to do about it?" he asks softly, not stopping.

You struggle to come up with an answer, as you aren't exactly sure yourself, and he smirks at his victory, "It's good that you know there is absolutely nothing you can do."

"Fuck you, Dave," you spit at him and glare with all your might.

He frowns ever so slightly as the back of his hand wipes off the saliva on his cheek, "That wasn't very smart Harley."

You gasp as his hand wraps around your throat tightly and you let out a strangled sound. He cocks his head and stares at you, his fingers continuing to add pressure to your throat.

"I thought you had some brains in the fragile little skull of your's Jade," he says softly, "Maybe I should just end you right now, but...that would be such a waste of a pretty face."

His fingers are suddenly gone and so is he, "D-Dave?" you call out softly, getting a little anxious.

You jump as his voice whispers in your ear, "Night night Harley."

Then the world goes black.


	2. Chapter 2

== Be Jake English

Your name is Jake English and your a little worried that your cousin's romantical interest is going to get you caught by the demons. As usual, the short and usually pissed off troll is rambling, and you are not listening to a single word that is spewing out of his mouth. Absently, you tug on you green jacket, forcing yourself not to shiver in the cool night air. That was the other bad thing, John had specified that you be back before night fell. Woops.

"Karkat, don't you think you ought to quiet down there? We are in demon turf after all," you suggest quietly, looking around wearily.

"We can handle a couple of demons. Despite the fact that you are obviously scared out of your human thinkpan, your a good fighter," Karkat says, still talking loudly.

You think he meant that as a compliment, although with as harsh as he always talked you could never really be certain, "Well that's all right and good, but if we don't want to be attacked then I think we ought to-" you stop midsentence and shout, "Karkat, behind you!"

The troll moves quickly and in a flash his sickles are in his hand, but he's not fast enough. With a swift blow, the demon knocks him unconscious, and Karkat falls to the ground. Thankfully, he bought you enough time to whip out your guns which are loaded with salt, and the second you had a clear shot you fire. The demon screams out in agony and falls, his skin sizzling from where the salt hit him.

"Let's see who we got this time," you mutter and you move closer to see a rather familiar face, "Dirk. Why does it always seem to be you who shows up?"

He makes an effort to smirk through the pain, "I can never not show up when a pretty face is nearby."

You ignore his comment and take some holy water from your pocket, "Sleep well demon prince."

The water contacts with his skin and he groans in pain before going into a state of unconsciousness. You sigh and look at the two bodies lying next to you. This was going to be quite the explanation.

~Later~

You arrive at the small hut just outside of the HQ, dragging Dirk with you. Knowing that the holy water will wear off soon, you quickly clamp a pair of handcuffs around his wrists, and thread a chain through them. You secure it with a lock up above his head and step back, waiting for him to wake. You know that he won't be able to get away easily, the whole place is surrounded by salt, and various other things to make it nearly impossible to escape. Of course, you know he probably will anyways.

Deciding that you ought to look intimidating, you grab a knife from the counter, and twirl it as you kneel in front of him. A slight twitch in his eyes alerts you to the fact that he is waking up and you set your jaw as his orange eyes open.

"Good morning love, sleep well?" you ask sarcastically, but still in a slightly gentlemanly manner. Just because he's a hellspawn of Satan doesn't mean that you need to be a complete jerk to him.

"Just dandy," he says, eyes looking upwards as he tugs lightly on his bonds, "Nice traps you've got here."

You smirk slightly, "Only the best for our very special demon friend."

Dirk seemed almost amused by your comment and his smirk that spread acrost his face made your boil, "Yes I'm sure you all were very excited to meet me. I feel so honoured, should I have broughten a gift?"

"The only gift that you can give at the current moment mate is to spill some information," you press the knife against his neck and oh you know it hurts like hell due to the fact that it's made of silver, "Where are you assholes holding Jade?"

He hisses slightly at the contact with the silver, "I don't know anything about that. Dave probably has her locked up in god knows where."

"Not good enough there friend," the knife presses further into his rather thick skin, "I'd start spilling the beans pretty soon or this'll get ugly really quickly."

"No believe me, the minute you dragged me here shit was gonna get ugly," he practically hisses and it almost startles you out of your fierce mode, "And you bloody well know it hunter."

You blink and harden your gaze, "Look, I don't have time for this poppycock bullshit. Cut the drama and get on with it will you?"

"No I won't. You can torture me all you want; I won't tell you shit about anything," he spits and you wipe it off the side of your face with the sleeve of your jacket.

"Have it your way then," you say, "It's easier to just kill you now, rather than dragging it out until one of your mates comes to spring you."

For a moment, he looks nearly confused, but then his poker face is back, and he swallows thickly, "Well get on with it then."

You're already tucking the knife away in exchange for your gun, "Alright. Too bad it's ending so quickly though, I was rather looking forward to seeing you break."

"Guess I'm not so lucky," he mutters.

"No, you're lucks all dried up," you press the gun to his forehead, "Any last words you want to say there friend?"

Briefly, you're forest green eyes meet his bright orange, and he says, "Distraction."

"Wha-" your confusion is obvious, but then there's a hand clamped over your mouth, and something is biting into your neck, making the world go hazy.

You can barely make out an apparent female demon freeing Dirk and the two stand over you debating something, but your mind is too far gone to care.

== Be the demon

Which demon, be more specific dumbass.

== Be Dave

Your name is Dave Strider and yes, you are the fucking leader of the demons. Currently you're unbelievably pissed and-

How about we find someone who's in a better mood?

== Be John

Are you retarded? Try again.

== Be Dirk

Your name is Dirk Strider and you've just caught yourself a nice piece of hunter ass. Roxy walks beside you as you trudge from the hunter HQ back to your own, neither of you speak. In your arms in the hunter, still conscious, but unbelievably out of it. He mutters something, but even with your fine hearing you can't make it out, and shrug it off as some useless threat. Personally, you're glad that Roxy had enough of her wits about her to bite him so that he couldn't fight.

"I think I should thank you," you finally say, breaking the awkward silence.

"Is no problem," her words are slurred and you wonder if she'd convinced Rose to drink from her again, "We gotta take care of eachother right?"

You nod, "Yeah."

The silence returns, but it's not as tense, and after a few minutes you're at the base. It doesn't look like much on the outside, just a shabby shack, but underneath is the actual hideout. Taking out a long golden key, Roxy fits it into the keyhole, and you both enter. Inside is pitch black, but you don't need to be able to see, and make your way over to what appears to be a large wall. Pushing on it, Roxy spins it, and you both decend into what you all refer too as 'the tunnels'.

"I'm gonna go get him tied up, it looks like the venom's wearing off," you say, gesturing to the not-quite-so-limp hunter in your arms.

Roxy shrugs, "'Kay, Imma go tell Dave."

"Have fun with that," you mutter, already dreading the moment you have to face your brother.

You push the thought from your mind though and start walking. Doors line the sides of the white walls around you, but you have to make sure you get a good one, and soon find the perfect room about forty doors down. Yeah, that fucking hallways is huge.

The door opens soundlessly as you twist the bronze handle and enter. The room is decently sized, holding in a full sized bed with chains hanging above it, and nothing else. The carpet is a dark tan and a single lightbulb buzzes in the center of the ceiling. You smirk as you lay him down on the bed and grab one of his wrists, then force it into on of the shackles. After you repeat the process with his other arm, he's practically completely out of the venom haze, although he's still not completely out of it.

"Morning love, sleep well," you whisper tauntingly in his ear and damn if that didn't just about make him piss himself.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelps, struggling against the chains.

You smirk slightly, "Welcome to hell."

"W-what?" he almost seems to think it is literally hell, how cute.

"Not literally, but close enough," you shrug as if it's no big deal.

Suddenly, your ear twitches as a sharp sound cuts through the air, but you know only you can hear it, "We'll have to continue this another time."

His eyebrows shoot up, "You can't just leave me here!"

You laugh (he shudders, making you smirk), "I'm afraid I don't have a choice. Don't worry my love, I'll be back soon enough."

"I'm not your 'love'," he hisses.

"You'll soon feel differently about that," you chuckle and leave the room, deciding to fuck with him some more by turning the light off.

You can sense his fear and shut the door, then make your way to face the fury of Dave's wrath. A knot of your own fear twists in your stomach and you really hope you can pull yourself out of this one.


	3. Chapter 3

== Be Dave Strider

What the hell are you talking about? You've always been Dave!

You shake the thought from your head as the door opens and your dumbass brother enters the room, "What the hell were you thinking, Dirk? They would've killed you if Roxy hadn't shown up at just the right time!" you explode and your brother just crosses his arm.

"I wasn't trying to get caught, Dave. The hunter one upped me, no big deal," he shrugs and your blood boils even more.

You cross the room to where he stands with his arms cross and poke him in the chest, causing him to stagger back a bit, "You are not leaving this base until you can prove that you aren't going to be such a fucking idiot when you're around two fucking hunters! both of which are close to their fucking leader, John Egbert!"

He winces and takes a slight step back from you, "Jesus Dave, calm the fuck down. I ain't planning on headin' out any time soon, I've got my own hunter t'play with. Besides, since when is John such a problem?"

"He's a lot better than you would think dumbass," you growl, "but you wouldn't know that because you're too damn idiotic to get your head out of your ass and fucking focus! Do you want to get killed Dirk? Do you have some sort of death wish?"

"Course not and you know it. English and Vantas are usually pretty fuckin' easy to take. I didn't know that English was gonna pull that kind of shit," he says calmly, still managing to keep his temper longer than you will ever be able too.

You sigh and light a ciggarette, needing something to calm yourself down, "Of course you didn't. But I have told you a million times to keep your guard up around the fucking hunters, especially when there's more than one," you flick the thing in your hands and watch the still slightly burning ash fall to the ground.

"I'll do better next time Dave, promise." he swears, obviously ready to get the fuck out of here.

A soft ring of smoke escapes your mouth after you take another drag, "Alright, get the fuck out of my sight. Go play with your hunter toy while you have the chance."

He simply nods and flash steps out (fucking bastard was surprisingly fast for one who got himself got by damn hunters), shutting the door behind him, leaving you in the dimly lit room. You drop the cigarette and stomp it out with your black boot, then decide that you need to go check on your little hunter as well. Jade's been even less cooperative than usual, but you don't mind, and you know that soon she'll break; they always do. You smirk to yourself and slip out the door quietly, heading down the hallway to the room that you hold her in.

She's sitting up on the bed when you enter, her legs hanging off the edge, and her hair coming down to cover her face. The sound of you entering doesn't even startle her and so you cross the floor quickly, sitting down next to her.

"Jade, good to see you're up," you mutter, reaching over to brush her hair out of her face.

That's when the dummy falls apart and you sit there for a brief second before scowling and standing up, "Egbert!"

== Be John

You vaguely hear the demon's cries and smirk to yourself, even after all these years of hunting your pranking skills are impecible. Jade walks next to you, carrying her freshly restolen rifle, and tense. Frowning, you reach over to try to reasure her, but she jerks away.

"Not yet John," she says quietly, her usually bright green eyes dark and lifeless.

"Alright, sorry," you mutter, letting your hand drop back to your side.

Jade swallows thickly and the both of you continue on in silence. You want to kill Dave for doing this to your twin and you're sure you will...eventually, but you have to sharpen your skills first. Finally, you arrive back to the warehouse, and you open the thick door, then flip on the lights. Odd...where was everyone? You knew that all of the trolls, excepting Karkat, were out on hunts, but what about Jake and Jane? You sigh, you never can keep track of your cousins.

But Karkat's not here either and that makes you worried. You wonder what happened to your boyfriend/matesprit, but shrug it off to instead help Jade get to bed. She shrugs on a long night-shirt and you tell her good-night before leaving her room. You quickly cover the exterior of her door with salt, just to be safe, and then grab your weapons. You have to find Karkat and possibly save his loud mouth ass before he gets killed. The thought of him dying makes you shudder and you take a deep breath before exiting into the dark night.

"Karkat?" you call out, knowing it'll attract demons, but you don't care; you could easily take them, "Karkat Vantas!"

"Egbert?" you hear a slight groan off to your right and you dart into the bushes, soon catching a glimpse of Karkat lying in a clearing.

"Shit, what happened?" you ask, helping him slowly into a sitting position.

He rubs the back of his head and winces, pulling his hand forward to see blood, "Jake and I were doing a round. We got ambushed by one of them and I got knocked out. I don't know where Jake is. I'm sorry John, I should've kept my mouth shut-"

You cut him off with a quick kiss, "It's not your fault Karkat. Head back to the base, apparantly I'm making two trips to the demon base tonight."

"Be careful," he says, kissing you back, and then standing up.

"Hang on," you shake your head and pull out some bandages, quickly patching up his head before you send him off.

You wait until you can't see him anymore and sigh. Dammit Jake...

Oh well, you shrug, and pull out your ever trusty hammer, heading back to where you knew the demons hid out. You take a deep breath, forcing out your butterflies when you come to the small shack that contained mulitudes of underground tunnels, and enter. Unsurprisingly, you are ambushed the second you step foot inside, but they're quickly disposed of with one blow from your hammer, and you keep them where they are with a small bit of salt. If you had time, maybe you'd send this one back to hell. You recognize it as Eridan, one of the trolls, and a rather cocky bastard on occasion.

You keep your hammer at the ready, wondering where the hell they were keeping Jake, but your thoughts are ubruptly cut off when someone pins you to the wall by your throat. A choked sound escapes you and your hammer falls as your hands scramble to make the other hands go away.

"Well hello there Egbert," a cool voice says and you glare at the leader of the demons.

"Nice to see you too, Strider," you spit and kick him in the chest.

He doesn't release his grip, but his creepily red eyes flash angrily, and instead his hand tightens, blocking your airway. You bring one of your hands down to your pockets and grab a handful of salt, quickly throwing it on him. He hisses, his skin sizzling upon the contact, and drops you. You kick his feet out from under him and he falls, then you run. Anger still pumps through your veins and all you want to do is go back there and finish him, but you control yourself; you have more important things to worry about.

Unfortunately, you didn't count on there being a feeding demon when you finally found your cousin.

**Damn guys, thank you for the reviews and all that shit! :3 I fucking love this AU so yeah, enjoy ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

Dammit. This kind of thing always has to happen. You recognize the demon as Dave's brother and swallow; he's a lot faster than any of them and considering the fact that he just finished feeding doesn't help anything.

"John?" Jake's voice cracks and you know he must be pretty damn drained.

In a flash, Dave's brother (you believe his name is Dirk) is standing in front of you, "So another one of the amazing hunters has decided to join us, hm?"

You scowl and swing your hammer, but he's moved away in a flash (literally) and you yet again find yourself pinned to the wall. The only difference this time was that your head was hit a lot harder and you don't have any more salt to help you out. Leaving you with no other options, you thrash out, kicking, squirming, and trying to buck him off. Jake is screaming something from where he lays, but you can't make it out as you begin to asphyxiate.

"Drop him Dirk," a voice growls from the doorway.

The demon turns his head in time for a silver fork to be digging into his gut. His skin burns on contact and he hisses, dropping you. You gasp for breath and hold your throat, your legs giving out instantly so you are forced to you knees. One hand goes out to keep you upright, while the other remains on your throat, and you look to see Jane pulling her fork out of the demon while sprinkling salt around him.

"You alright John?" she asks, helping you up.

You nod and rub your throat one last time, then straighten, and walk over to Jake. His face is pale and sometime during the strife he passed out, but he's breathing so that's a plus. Moving quickly, you untie him, and heave him over your shoulder.

"Let's get the hell out of here," you say to Jane and she simply nods, then leads the way out.

The halls are clear as you all walk and your thankful that you don't have to deal with any demons, but it seems oddly suspicious. You shrug it off and move out, soon figuring out why there weren't any demons coming after you. The sun is beginning to peak over the horizon and you grin slightly. That would hold them off for at least fourteen hours; which gave you and your teammates enough time to rest and prepare for any sort of attack they may force on you.

You grit your teeth, you hope your group will be able to hold them off. They should be fine, but you can't help but worry anyways. Casting a quick look at Jane and then at Jake just adds to your stress; you couldn't imagine what you would do without them. You sigh and soon spot the warehouse; this would probably be the last day you spent there.

Jane opens the door and you go to lay Jake down on his bed. When you come back out you see that Jade is awake and looks a bit better. Her face is still pale and her hands shake as she moves them.

She gives you a weak smile, "H-hey John."

You sit by her and gently wrap an arm around her, enveloping her in a warm hug, "Hey Jade. You feeling okay?"

"Y-yeah..." she trails off and winces slightly, "I'll be fine, I just...need a little time."

You nod, "It's alright Jade. Take as much time as you need."

"Thanks John," she hugs you and you hope to god the demons won't attack tonight.

Of course, you know they will, and you watch Jade with a heavy conscience.

== Be Dave Strider

Your name is Dave Strider and you are overly pissed right now. Not only did hunters manage to break into your hideout, but they took all of your prisoners, and trapped your brother in a salt circle. He was out now, but that didn't really matter to you. No. These hunters were going to pay dearly and you had just the thing. You would leave Egbert alive, but the rest of his precious family and team would be slaughtered. Already you're working on gathering all of their locations.

"Dave," Dirk's voice comes from behind you and you turn to look at him, "We found three of the hunters and they should be passing by this area a little before the sun sets.

A smirk finds its way onto your face and you feel your fangs slip over your lip, "Good, make sure we're ready by then. I want you to take three other's and wipe them out. No prisoners."

"Alright," he nods and flash steps out, probably to go find the three other's he'd want to take.

You close the door and start to pace the room. After those three were disposed of, you'd launch an all out attack on the hunter base. They'd be emotionally unstable and you easily outnumber them. You'd send five of you up first, lead by Rose, then another wave of four lead by Roxy, and then you and Dirk would bring up the rear. It would be perfect.

The room seems to brighten as your eyes glow with evil purpose, "You'd better be ready Egbert, we're coming for you and your precious family.

"And by the end of tonight not a single one of them will be left standing."

**I feel like this chapter is a little short :/ Sorry if it is, but hey I finally added another chapter! xD Anyways, I have a good idea for the next chap. this one was kind of a fill in, but the next should be up shortly. Thanks for reading ^^**


	5. Chapter 5

== Be John

You are now back to John yet again. Jesus, can't you broaden your choices a little here?

The sun is starting to set and your gut is clenching in fear and anxiousness. They're coming and you know it. You recieved the news that Tavros, Vriska, and Terezi were all killed by demons. That knocks your numbers down to nine and with Jake and Jade out of commision; seven. You, Karkat, Gamzee, Kanaya, Sollux, Jane, and Sollux. However, you and Jane are the only two who remain at the base, and while you've warded and set traps all around the warehouse you're sure the demons will get in. You load your gun with salt and stare at the door with a grim expression.

Jane holds her silver fork/spoon weapon tightly and a loaded pistol in the other; a pack of salt is attached to each of your sides. You're both loaded with holy water as well just to be safe and you can never be to safe dealing with this creatures.

A slight rumble is all the warning you get before the door flies open and a burst of wind knocks you off your feet. The gun flies from you hand and there is suddenly a hand at your throat. Blue eyes meet glowing purple and you scowl; Rose. Moving quickly, you toss some salt in her face, and she hisses, the skin visibly burning. You push yourslef out from under her and snatch your gun, then shoot her in the heart. She turns into a mere pile of ash and you hear different scream. Roxy, who's currently trying to pin Jane, and the other's you're assuming to be Dirk and Dave's.

You grin a little at your victory and then there's more screaming as Jane stabs her fork/spoon device into Roxy's heart. Two of the eleven demons left. That leaves nine of them against the two of you. The odds are totally in your favor right now.

There are currently seven others in the room with you. Thankfully, two of them got caught in demon traps and you're quick to shoot and dispose them with a quick silver bullet to the heart. One of them whimpers a bit and you're pretty sure you just killed someone close to it. In a flash it's on top of you, obviously seeking revenge. It's glowing blue eyes are filled with fury and you struggle to keep away from it; the bastard it strong!

However; it doesn't notice Jane sneak up behind it to stab it in the back. It struggles for a moment longer, then is nothing more than dust in the warehouse.

"Thanks," you nod to her and she only barely has time to nod back before more demons are on top of you.

You manage to somehow clear off the remaining five and pant in the aftermath. Both of you have acquired some injuries, varying from bruises, to scratches that may or may not be very deep. However, you know this isn't the end. Dave and Dirk still remain and they'll be the toughest to destroy. You're low on ammo, worn out, and exhausted. Things are not going very well for you.

== Be Dave

You are now Dave Strider and you are enraged with pure fury. Rose and Roxy are both dead as well as the remainder of your clan; and they've only inflicted slight damage on the damned hunters. You could care less about that right now though; right now you've got some hunter's to kill.

You flash step into the warehouse; followed by Dirk. Jane and John both stand waiting for you; how cute.

"You know Egbert, Crocker I'm genuinely surprised you've lasted this long." you say, keeping your cool despite the erupting volcano that you're becoming, "But don't worry; we'll put you both out of your misery soon enough and you can both rest in peace...or pieces and Dirk and I will claim our rewards."

John glares out you; blue eyes flaming, "I won't let you win this fight, Dave."

"Try as you will John you're destined too lose. You don't honestly think you can take us both? You can barely handle one of us while you're at full strength," you scoff, noting how badly cut up he is on his left arm...

He glares and moves to attack you. You move quickly and then you're behind him, and you grab his arm; digging your nails into the cut. He cries out in pain and his hammer falls to the floor.

"How pathetic. All of you humans are so weak," you hiss in his ear and shove him forward.

He stumbles and whirls around. Just then; you both jump as a loud scream fills the room. Dirk has one arm holding Jane's behind her back and his free hand's nails are slowly digging into her throat.

"Jane!" John yells and lunges at Dirk, but you move to engage him before he can.

Unfortunatly, that winds up earning you a blow to the head with a hammer made of silver, and your vision goes fuzzy for a moment. You quickly shake it off though and move just in time as John swings for your head again. He whirls to face you again and the hammer is brought very close to your face. It's obvious that he's still in pain, his movements are sloppy; even for him.

Jane cries out one last time and then Dirk has ripped her throat out. John cries out in anguish as your brother drops her limp corpse to the floor and you take his moment of distraction to force the hammer to fall out of his hand.

"You know she's lucky Egbert. She died quickly. Unlike you; I think we'll take our time with you," you chuckle darkly, forcing him to his knees.

He barely even struggles, it's pretty pathetic. Dirk comes to stand beside you and John sobs slightly; recognizing his defeat. A dark chuckle escapes your lips again and Dirk grabs his neck.

Your brother cocks his head a bit, "How do you think we should do it, Dave?"

"Hm...well you know the saying an 'eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth'? I think we should take that to it's literal sense."

"I agree," he grins and one of his nails move up to brush against John's eye.

The next few seconds happen quickly and you barely have time to react before you see a silver dagger sticking out of Dirk, then he's nothing more than dust. An enraged howl leaves you as he dies and then you're on top of John, beating the living shit out of him.

You manage to speak as you punch the side of his face, over and over, "You bastard! You fucking bastard! He was the last family I had left! You killed him! "

He coughs up blood and then an idea creeps into your mind. You stand up, regaining your cool, and step on his arm, slowly adding more pressure until the bone snaps.

"I'll be right back," you snarl, then walk away.

You're able to find their room's fairly easily and it's no challenge to drag Jake by the hair from his. John's rolled onto his stomach, trying to crawl towards his dagger, but you easily stop him, and kick him back onto his back. You know your face is stone cold as you pull John over to a nearby beam and sit him up against it. His head rolls on his neck a bit, but he's not unconscious.

You're fuming at this point and Jake gets to recieve the blunt of this anger, "You know English, my brother actually fucking loved you. Did you know that? I'm betting not, considering that you all seem to think we don't have feelings." you punch him in the face as hard as you can and hear a satisfying crunch as the bone breaks beneath your hand, "Did you also know, that we can 'attach' ourselves to one person? Basically summed up that means that no matter we're bound to protect that human. He did that for you English. Bet you don't even give a rats ass that he did."

Another swipe to the face and he's bleeding heavily now. You settle for just beating him rather than talking and soon he's unconscious. Panting, you drop him to the floor, and turn to face John, but he's not there. Realizing your mistake a little to late, a silver blade pierces into your back, and you gasp.

John's behind you, breathing heavily, and he twists the blade farther into you. The pain flowing through you is unbelievable and your eyes are probably wide with shock. The dagger is suddenly pulled out and you collapse, clutching at your gut, which is bleeding with your dark black blood. You cough and shudder, breathing heavily.

"Jake are you alright?" you hear John ask and a muttered response comes in reply.

Apparently that's enough to satisfy John and he instead comes to kneel next to you. You shoot him a nasty glare (or at least as nasty of a glare as you can manage) and then look away from his bright blue eyes.

You swallow thickly, "Well come on then Egbert, finish the job."

"I'm not going to kill you," he says and you feel the cold metal of some chains being wrapped around your wrists.

"What!?" you hiss, jerking agains the bonds, instantly regretting it as pain shoots through you again.

John doesn't respond and soon you're chained to a beam. He helps Jake up, completely ignoring your threats, and takes the injured guy back to his room. You slump against your bonds and bite your lip. You are so unbelievably fucked.


	6. Chapter 6

== Time: Go On

Time, of course, continues on. The minutes drag by slowly, eventually piling up into hours, and your pretty sure any feeling you had in arms is long gone. Instead, feeling is replaced with prickly numbness. Sort of like the static you see on television, but mute so you don't hear the crackly sounds.

The silver has probably left marks on your wrists. Not as though it matters anymore. With just a flick of your eyes you can see the compiled lump of ashes that used to be your hive, your family. You feel slight sorrow, but nothing major. You are a demon after all, these things don't affect you as badly. Excepting the deaths of your actual siblings. Dirk especially will leave a mark upon your immortal conscience. Well...currently immortal. You wonder how long the hunters plan leaving you chained up. The constant waiting is driving you mad.

You slump against the wooden beam, arms still pulled taught behind you, and bound tightly with the silver chains. Fighting proved to be futile aftere the first few minutes and so you have sat fairly quietly since. Of course, you can't help the occasional threat or snarl, but for the most part you've remained silent. Glancing around at your surroundings again, you begin to feel the start of a headache. The same scenery, same painful reminders. It hurts your head.

Grumbling under your breath, you roll your shoulders in an attempt to allow some circulation down your continually tingling arms, but to no avail.

The sudden twist and click is all the warning you get before footsteps head in your direction and you come face to face with none other than John Egbert. He's the reason your trapped in the first place. It's also semi your fault, considering you lashed out at him without considering the fact that he and his cousing, Jake were both surrounded by easily accessed weapons...

A gun barrel presses under your chin, forcing you to tip your head back in order to avoid the bite of the barrel. Unnatural red eyes meet cold blue and it takes a lot of energy for you to muster up a grim smirk.

"So Egbert, finally decided to come chat hm?" you force yourself not to snarl. You won't give him the satisfaction of seeing you break.

He scowls and the gun is shoved even farther into the soft flesh just behind your chin, "Shut the hell up, Dave. You're lucky to even still be in one piece."

"Oh yes, I consider having my innards semi exposed to be lucky," you growl, reminding yourself of the still gaping hole where John stabbed you with the silver knife.

"You killed Jane! And a bunch of other hunters! You deserve to be dead," he snarls, finger going to the trigger.

You stare at him with a now blank expression, "Go ahead, kill me. Exact your horrible revenge upon me for the death of so many. You know John, I've killed a lot more people than just your precious hunters. It's so much fun to hear people scream; men, women, children. It's all the same to me. Seeing their blood spilling from their lifeless corpses, seeing the life fade from their eyes..."

"Shut up!" he pulls the gun back and smack you with it, opening a slight gash in the side of your head.

"Ow." you say simply, already feeling the blood come down your head, "That wasn't very nice John. You should learn some manners."

"I said shut up! You stupid," he hits you with the gun to punctuate each following word, "Ignorant. Selfish. Conceited. Monster!"

A dark chuckle forces it way out of your throat and you barely manage to not choke on your own blood, "Ooh, finally getting a little pissed I see," you spit out some of the black liquid at him, "Too bad for you name calling isn't very effective."

Glaring furiously, he trembles with rage as he produces a knife from his back pocked, "You. Are the most disgusting thing I have ever had the misfortune of laying eyes on. Burn in hell."

With that, he presses the knife to your throat, slowly pressing it in. Your first instinct is to fight back, to survive, but you surpress it, and instead just close your eyes; preparing for the icy tendrils of your death. Suddenly, the pressure is gone, and you open your eyes, a little confused.

"You don't even deserve death." he spits the words out and you can't help but flinch, "Enjoy starvation."

The words stab you worse than a knife. Starving is one of the worst things that can happen to a demon such as yourself, seeing as the process takes a long time, but the effects start off after only three days of not feeding.

"You can't do that!" you try to make the words intimidating, but even to your pointed ears they're scared and weak.

He stops for a second, but doesn't turn to look at you, "Watch me."

Staring in disbelief, you watch as he turns, and walks away, shutting the door to another room, "John! Egbert! You coward! You idiotic, bucktoothed, imbecile kill me! Just do it already! Kill me!"

There's no answer and you stop, chest heaving as you continue to stare at the place where the hunter had disappeared. Taking a breath, you clench your jaw shut, and force yourself to shut up. There's not going to be any sympathy for you here. Not ever. So, you hang your head, and wait for the days to pass until you slowly begin to go insane before you die.

== Be Jade Harley

You go from being the tied up demon to being the exhausted hunter.

Despite your exhaustion, you push yourself into a sitting position, and swing your legs off the bed. An alarm clock on your nightstand tells you it's about seven in the morning. You stretch, yawning, and moving to stand rather than sit. You stumble slightly as you try to catch your balance before you fall. Managing to remain on your feet, you head out of your room, and freeze.

It's him. The demon. Dave.

Swallowing down your scream, you timidly step closer, and almost sigh in relief when you see that he's either unconscious or asleep. You'd guess the first, based on the amount of blood surrounding him on the floor. You kneel next to him, then slowly reach out to brush aside a bit of blonde hair to see the multiple gashes on his head and jaw.

Looking over the rest of him, you see that there's also a large wound in his back, and you stare at it for a moment, before hesitantly moving your hand to make it easier to see.

"Don't," a started gasp escapes your lips as you jerk back to meet his brilliant, but scary, red eyes.

"I was just...you...I was just looking at your wounds!" you manage to say, pushing yourself a little ways away from the blonde demon.

He scoffs, but looks away from you, almost looking...defeated? "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Jade."

"What happened?" the question gets blurted before you realize the words even came out of your mouth.

"Your lovely host of a brother decided to beat me up," he states simply, "After killing my entire hive and the jerk decides to keep me alive, probably out of spite. Guess I don't blame him...I mean, after all, I'm just a freak of nature to you guys. An evil being, spawn of satan, and all that jazz."

You frown slightly, "Why wouldn't he just kill you? That'd be a lot easier."

"Because he wants me to suffer. He's letting me starve."

"What!" you stand up, "No! I don't care how bad you are, he can't do that!"

He coughs suddenly and the sound makes you wince. It's obviously painful, seeing as he winces, and the blood that follows afterwords gives you a hint as well.

"Well, you'd better talk to him about it," his voice is more hoarse than before.

You work your jaw for a second, "He won't listen. I'll have to do it myself..."

"Jade? Good gracious, I've got the most killer headache at the moment. Would we happen to have any remaining medical supplies-" Jake walks out of his room right as you speak and stops, "What was that?"

"I..." you bite your lip, "I just don't think anyone deserves to die like that..."

"Jade, he killed Jane! And countless others! He deserves only the worst death imaginable!" Jake protests.

You bite your lip, "But..."

"No 'buts' Jade," John suddenly steps out of the room behind Jake, "Just drop it."

"John it isn't fair!"

He glares slightly, causing you to flinch back, "What he did isn't fair! He killed the majority of our group! Most of us are dead because of him!"

"Leave her alone you big bullies," Dave growls abruptly, "Is it so bad that she has a heart?"

"If it involves helping your kind then yes!" John snaps and it's your turn to glare.

"I'm not some kid you can just boss around!" you step closer to him, poking him in the chest to drive your words home, "I can make my own decisions! I have a mind you know! I'm capable of doing things!"

Your brother frowns, "Jade you don't-"

"Don't you dare tell me I don't understand!" your fuming now, "I know perfectly what I'm doing! Now shut up and someone give me a gun!"

Neither of the two human males move, so you shove past them to your room, "Fine! I'll get mine!" you arrive inside and pick up your rifle, but then turn to see the door tightly closed.

"I'm sorry Jade, it's for your own good," John tells you and you hear the rattle of chains and a click and you know your locked inside.

"John! Let me out of here!" you shout, kicking at the door furiously.

He hesitates a little bit before answering, "We'll let you out when he's gone Jade. It'll only take a few da-"

"NO! John Egbert let me out of here! NOW!" you aim your rifle at the heavy wood.

Things are about to go down.


	7. Chapter 7

== Starve

Starvation comes quickly, but the pain is slow, and agonizing. Your own blood begins to turn on you, eating you from the inside out. It burns, but worst of all you lose any sense of yourself. Unconsciousness is a gift, being aware is like watching your worst nightmare unfold, before it embraces you in a deadly grip. Of course, this might not make any sense to anyone. You are semi delirious at this point.

It's been one week since you were last able to feed and for the past four hours, you've been writhing in pain. The searing, slow, unbearable pain that you still feel even as it dies down slightly. You know better by now than to relax, because within a few short moments it rears and strikes you again, leaving you screaming, and nearly begging to be killed.

You'd rather get gutted slowly with a dull knife than to starve.

You're barely able to make out the blurred voices around you, your hearing isn't doing so well, "-ohn, do you...right? He...vil...maybe?"

"No. We can...hes...mon," you can barely make out the words, but you're aware enough to tilt your head towards the sound of the voice.

Considering your hearing is awful, so is your usually impecible sight. A semi blurred figure of whom you assum to be John and another, who you assume to be Jake stand a mere few feet away from you.

"But John," their voices become a bit clearer as the pain dies down slightly, "I didn't realize that it'd be this awful! It's inhumane! I understand that he's a demon, but...cut the guy some slack! You're going a little loopsie in the brain I'm afraid. I mean, you locked your own sister up!"

By the looks of John's stance, he's defensive, "She would interfere and if you don't stop I'll lock you up too. He deserves this. Can't you see that? He killed Jane, he tries to kill me, and you for god's sake!"

Jake looks over at you and the look in his eyes seem almost...as though he's pitying you, "John I think he's learned a lesson. Just end it already."

You know you look weak, but you are, and you look at both of them with pleading eyes. The rise and fall of your chest tells you that you're breathing in short bursts, quick, eratic, and uncontrolled. You must seem really desperate.

"Come now John, he's suffered enough!"

John steps forward, causing Jake to take a small step back, "I said he's going to starve, therefor he is going to starve. He's my prisoner. I can do what I want!"

Jake shakes his head and that's about when the pain starts to come back, "Sorry John, but...tay...bye."

Yelling follows, proceeded by the slamming of a large and heavy door, and then your face stings. Compared to the rest of the pain your experiencing, it's welcomed. Some part of you dully notes that John is screaming at you, face red with rage and fury, but you can't do anything but stare blankly.

Then a sharp burning sensation courses through every vein in your body.

You don't know you're screaming. You're hearing is gone at this point and your sight might as well be too. The small sensible part of you tells you that you're in extreme pain, that you need food, that you're wrists are bleeding as you tug uselessly in an attempt to break free. It's no use, but you can't tell that right now. Primitive instinct takes over as your body gives one last struggle to live, tugging at the chains that bind you, attempting to at least break the wooden beam, but to no avail.

As you slump, vision starting to fade as your body dies, some wry part of you says you're crying, and that someone else is too. The pain strikes hard, one last time, and your back arches from the beam, held back only by the cuffs keeping you in place.

You look at John, tears still falling, and manage to whisper, "I'm sorry," before your body gives up and you die.

== Cry

Your name is John Egbert and you watch as your captive prisoner turns to dust.

Why are you crying? This is what you wanted. To see him die. Watch him suffer...no make him suffer just like he's going to make you suffer for the rest of your life. Still, the tears come. Why?

Your mind decides to throw a memory at you, one of times long gone. A childhood period, a swirling vortex of happiness, innocence, and beauty.

== Flashback

"Dave!" a young John ran down the cement steps that lead up to his suburban house, "What are you doing here?"

The small blonde gave a small smirk, neither of the two were more than eight or nine years old, "I wanted to see if you could hang. I'm bored."

John laughed, his blue eyes twinkling as he did, and shot his friend a huge grin, flashing his slight larger front teeth, "My dad already said it's okay! He knows you like to 'hang out' whenever you show up here. What do you want to do?"

Dave shrugged, a small gesture, "Don't know. Let's go inside though."

"Alright," John nodded, more than happy to comply with Dave's suggestion.

It wasn't a big deal. Dave just preffered being inside. He always said it was something about being sensitive to light, which was why he always wore shades, and kept his hair long so it covered his ears. At least...that was what John thought, until he found out the truth, but that wouldn't be for years to come...

== Skip ahead by six years

Thunder clapped in the dark sky, a bright streak against a violet background, but John wasn't paying attention to that. Instead, he was staring, wide eyed, at the sight before him. A limp body lay in the alley, some girl with long blonde hair. She was pretty...but that wasn't what he was looking at. Blue eyes met shining red and both froze, remaining completely still.

"D-Dave?" John stammered out the words, eyes flicking back and forth between the person he called his best friend, and the female that remained motionless in a puddle of something wet.

"John it isn't what it looks like," Dave's voice, soft, and manipulative poured out of the shadows as he stepped forward.

Staggering back, the raven haired teen couldn't help but gape. Dave's hair was smoothed back, revealing curved ears that ended in a point, his normal aviators were gone, revealing glowing, satanic red eyes, and John could only barely make out the outline of two fangs peeking over his lip.

"What are you!" the words came out as a shrill sound.

Dave...no, the creature flinched, "John it's still me. Look, it's just...I didn't..."

"You're a monster!" John spat, finally gathering up some courage.

Another wince, "It wasn't-"

"Shut up!" the blonde's mouth shut slowly, "Y-you...you killed this woman! Y-you're...you're scaring me Dave..."

Dave waited for a second, before warily starting again, "I know and it looks bad, just let me explain John..." he approached him slowly, hands out in a gesture to suggest surrendor, "It's time you know the truth; I'm a demon, John. I have to do this, or else I starve, and die. You've got to understand, if I had the choice I wouldn't, but-"

He came a little too close and John's hand shot out, slapping him hard across the face. Despite his small, frail frame John was surprisingly strong, but Dave was stronger. No sooner had his hand connected with the demon's cheek, than his wrist was caught in a tight, vicelike grip.

"Dave! Stop! You're hurting me!" John shouted, yelping as Dave forced him to his knees.

In that moment, blue met red yet again, and John froze. Dave's eyes were fuming, angry, and hurt. Shocked into paralysis, he sat there, and stared. Eventually, the demon let go, but John didn't make any move to get up. A soft snort came from Dave and he stalked past John, muttering something that John could barely make out as, "Weak mortal." before completely dissapearing from sight.

What seemed like hours later, John was found, by a boy with a mess of black hair. No, not a boy. He had horns and gray skin. A troll. They were commonplace enough that he didn't completely freak and it was then he introduced to Karkat Vantas and the world of demon hunting. In that moment he discovered multiple things, 1. His best friend was good as dead, 2. He didn't know it yet, but Karkat was to become the love of his life, and one of the few things that kept him tethered down, and 3. His new lifelong career of demon hunting, starting with the one he used to call a friend.

== End Flashback

A few hours later, you let the dust of the demon fly away in the wind. Jade stands behind you, face emotionless, but she turns her head when you begin to set the remains free.

This is for the best, but some part of you wishes it wouldn't have ended like this. You wish that you could have remained friends with Dave, that you had never found out about the hunting half of your family, that things could be normal.

Of course, things can never be normal. Not in your life at very least.

You stand still for a moment, then turn, put an arm around Jade, and lead your sobbing sister back into the warehouse you use for your base. Before you shut the large wooden doors behind you, you take one last look outside before the sun rises completely. The forest is dark, the leaves on the trees rustling quietly with the small breeze that often came with the morning. Warning bells go off in your head and you grit your teeth, finally shutting the door.

You guess you are still afraid of the dark.

== End


End file.
